


Good Job, Soldier

by saerayaa



Category: GOT7, Im Jaebum - Fandom, got7 jaebum, got7 jb - Fandom
Genre: Angs, Anxiety, Army!JB, Blowjobs, Comfort, Dominance, Established Relationship, F/M, Fights, Love Story, Romance, Sex, Smut, Soldier!JB, jaebum/oc - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-10-16 22:26:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10580757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saerayaa/pseuds/saerayaa
Summary: Jaebum and Annabelle have fallen in love over skype and are now reunited. They'll have to work through eachother's anxiety to find their balance. Turns out being in a relationship is much more complicated, but much more better when the person is physically there all the time.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I hope you'll like this fic. I watched a lot of hospital series to get all the technical terms and whatnot, but if I got something wrong feel free to tell me! Subscribe and comment please! Kudos are a way to let me know I'm not writing shit too :) Tell me what y'all think about thi first chapter, so I can see whether or not I should keep posting :)

Sexual Healing’s melody was coming out of her mouth in a joyful whistle as she ambled through the automatic glass doors of the Hail Mary hospital's ER. Her good mood was as obvious as an elephant in a porcelain store. She wasn’t trying to hide it, because she knew there was no way she could. Idly, she wondered if it was because she wanted the whole world to know.

"Someone's in a good mood today." Jesse observed as he walked past her, statoscope around his neck. She stopped the melody before the chorus and whirled, her black and shiny hair following the motion in a graceful manner. The grin she flashed was worth diamonds.

"Really? Who?" She joked, making the department director chuckle and shake his head before he disappeared in a patient’s room. Annabelle arrived to the circular counter in the hall, where her colleagues were grouped, indulging to the usual pre-shift chat about sports, music, weekends spent and medicine.

"Hi, everyone." Her voice was almost a sing-song. The soft blabber around the counter toned down, as her radiant mood stimulated people’s interest. The receptionist, Bertha, crooked a delicate eyebrow at her.

"Hi, bubbly. What's that happy smile of yours for?" She asked lightly, handing her a tablet so she could check in.

"I masturbated before coming." Annabelle lied- _or maybe she didn't_ , while making a pun. This time, the team went quiet. All kinds of stares turned to her form as her shoulders shook with mirth. Some were surprised, some intrigued, some amused.

"You too?" Michael, a surgeon, smirked from the other end of the hall. Annabelle stopped laughing and gave the man a sideways glance.

“Ew.” Christine, an intern shivered dramatically.

“Why is me masturbating more disgusting that her masturbating?” Michael was aggravated. 

“Because she’s _hot_. You’re 70.” Christine retorted, 70 being a hyperbola. He had the mentality of a 70-year-old man, but he was just only above half of that.

“Don’t you know women love experience, lil’ squirt?” Scott chimed in, since he was around Michael’s age.

“They also love stamina.” Annabelle declared, handing the tablet back to the amused receptionists. She was not sure this discussion took the turn she wanted.

“I have stamina now that I’ve started exercising again.” Michael said, confidently.  “Me and Jenna went at it for a whole ten minutes yesterday.”

And that was it. A general “ew” filled the room, disgraceful images popping up and polluting everyone's mind.

“I regret everything I said.” Annabelle grumbled, shaking her head in hopes of getting the image of the couple rutting against each other out of her mind. Everyone fled Michael like a disease, clearing a safety radius around the speechless man. Annabelle headed towards the lockers.

"Caleb." She called, glimpsing another colleague striding inside the hall. The tall, blond and sickeningly beautiful doctor lifted his head from his folder, eyes landing on Annabelle.

"Hi, beautiful." He smiled as he hopped her way to him. 

"I need to leave on time today." She explained, and it didn’t take any more for him to understand she needed a favor. "If you take my last patients, I'll try to get you a shift off." She promised. In his mind, Caleb had already accepted, and many questions had popped in his head since she started talking.

"Why do you need to leave on-" He stopped, answering the question alone in his head. He gave her a knowing smile. "JB's coming home today, isn't he?" 

Annabelle beamed at him, not feeling the need to corroborate or deny it. 

"Is that a yes?"

"Most definitely." Caleb chuckled, walking backwards in the same direction he was going before Annabelle stopped him. "If I can help your B.O.B get a night off." He pointed his folder at her.

"I don't have a B.O.B." 

"I do." Caleb retorted, making Annabelle’s jaw drop and a snort escape her nose. She was always taken aback by his brazenness. It’s something people would associate with an extravagant and openly gay man, but Caleb was just obnoxious and bisexual. And he _did_ have a battery operated boyfriend.

"How big is it?"

When Caleb showed her his fist and winked, she lost it. Giggling, she turned on her heels and headed for the lockers room.

"Attention, everyone!" Bertha yelled before she could take two steps. She whirled around, watching the night shit team closing in around the counter. Bertha stood.

"A bus transporting homecoming soldiers back from Syria was involved in an accident." Her words were followed by a general gasp, and silence. Annabelle brought her hand to her mouth, logically assuming it was JB’s bus. Her heart tightened and worry threatened to consume her on the post.

“Those coming here are three minutes away. There are at least a dozen of injuries, prepare all trauma rooms and blocks, this going to be intense." Bertha said, and everyone started to bustle up in all directions. Annabelle dragged an anxious hand through her hair and headed back towards the lockers.

"Annabelle!" Caleb called behind her. She briefly turned around but didn't slow down, knowing he was catching up with her anyway. In the lockers room, Annabelle tossed her bag to the floor and took her clothes off without minding Caleb's presence.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked, worry in his voice. 

"You heard her, there are a dozen injured soldiers." She replied, throwing her scrubs on. She knew Caleb didn't ask that _just_ because there were a dozen injuries. What worried him was the same thing that worried her.

"I don't know of JB is injured yet. I'll find out, and I'll take care of him." She convinced herself, not even evoking the possibility of him being dead.

"I'm not sure it's a good idea." Caleb said quietly. Annabelle closed her locker - she wasn't listening.

Her mind was crowded with JB when she came out of the building. Sounds were muffled, the scene passing in slow motion. She couldn't stop thinking about him. She felt like she needed to find him before being able to operate properly.

Six ambulances were already there when she came out. The soldiers were just getting carried out, and more than ten doctors, interns and nurses were already working on them. Her eyes swiped through the panorama unfolding- but she didn't see him.

"Dr Alstead!" 

The cry pulled her out of her reverie. Suddenly, the sounds were much clearer.  She heard the loud babble of shouting doctors and panicking soldiers.  She turned her head to the side and saw Drew, panicked next to a stretcher.

Her legs feeling like cooperating (thank god), she took quick steps towards the man in distress. 

"What is it?" She asked, grabbing a pen from her pocket. Drew's hand was shaking as he lifted the bloody bandage covering the unconscious soldier's torso.

"The guts." He said, showing her how they were sticking out through his wound. Annabelle took a closer look - it didn't seem to bleed excessively.

"It looks much worse than it actually is. They'll sort it out in the OR." She said calmly, writing down a few instructions on his arm in case he got lost in the hospital.

"Take him upstairs and page Dr Buchanan!" She shouted, stepping away. She had to find JB.

"Anna!" Caleb called as another ambulance arrived. She knew she should reply but she had to see who was in there first.

She helped the door open and a first-aider jumped out, pulling the stretcher with him.

Annabelle first saw his legs, one was bloody and bandaged. When they put the stretcher down, she got to have a closer glimpse at his face. 

The man was conscious, small, slanted eyes open wide and looking up, neck immobilized by a neck brace. His lips were parted and let escape, quick, panicked breaths as the stretcher came down to the ground. She recognized him instantly, torn between relief and terror.

"JB." She murmured in shock. "Jaebum!" She said, rushing closer and towering above him. JB saw her appear in front of his eyes, a strangled cry of what she thought was relief escaping him.

“Annabelle!” He breathed, his pupils searching actively across her face. He looked terrified. She took the trembling hand on his chest and squeezed it, recognizing the same fear she saw on almost every of her injured patient. She only thought about the feeling of his hand in hers for a second or two, noticing how warm his palm felt.

“Annabelle, Annabelle, I can’t move.” He explained hurriedly, and she knew, she almost saw the tachycardia creeping. She could see his head was sinking between his shoulders as if he was shrugging.

She let herself go to anxiousness for a nanosecond, before quickly going back in doctor mode. 

Okay, he was injured, and she was going to take care of him, because there was no way after all this time she was losing him. First, she had to ask the first-aider what was wrong with him, then make the necessary analysis, and act upon her conclusion. Easy.

"What does he have?" She asked the female first- aider.

"He snapped his neck. Dislodged a cervical or two. Severe contusion on his leg. Glasgow at five." She said quickly, pushing the stretcher towards the door. She had to let his hand go to get him inside. JB kept on begging, immobile and powerless on the stretcher.

"Caleb!" Annabelle called, following with long strides. The doctor looked up from his patient.

"Caleb, it's JB!" She begged. "Please, Caleb!"

Caleb got another doctor to help his patient and ran to Annabelle.

"What does he have?" He asked as they rushed through the glass doors.

-

She didn't know how she did it, but she didn't burst into tears. Her medical mind wasn't _that_ perturbed, and she was the calmest she could be, despite what everyone else would expect from her, despite what she expected from herself. She did hear her heart swell, twist and break when she realized he was injured, but she was still on her feet and at least he was conscious. They were extra careful when they moved JB out of the stretcher onto his hospital bed, not wanting to hurt his spinal cord.

“Annabelle.” Jaebum called for the hundredth time. Her name was his only mark point, everything he knew at that moment.

“I’m here, Jaebum.” Annabelle stopped her frantic ordering and stilled, standing next to his bed while everyone kept getting busy around them.

“It's not a fracture, is it?” He asked.

“You just snapped your neck. Can you move your toes?” She replied.

 “Y-yeah.” He blinked

“It’s nothing too serious, then. You’ll be just fine if you keep still.” She advocated.

“4 years in combat, Syria, Turkey and Iraq, bombardments and shootings and I never got hurt, I come home and now that?” He muttered.

“I thought you would greet me with flowers and a teddy bear.” She said playfully. She was joking like she would do with any panicky patient, but she thought it would help her more that it would help him. When JB smirked back at her, she felt a little bit calmer. He looked like a cheeky little boy when he smirked. Like he was up to no good. That’s what she thought the first time she saw him. She thought he smelled like big trouble.

“I knew you wanted something more dramatic.” He murmured, his eyes twinkling.

"Well, I'm served." She retorted. He didn’t snipe anything back, and just kept looking at her. People were busy around them, plugging him into a monitor and giving him an IV while taking a blood sample. JB took time to appreciate her face, and she did the same thing. He stated to feel warm in his chest. She was finally there, in front of him.

“Hi.” He greeted her absently. Annabelle smiled.

“Hi.” She replied, before Caleb’s voice pulled her back to reality.

“Annabelle.” He said, and when she looked up, everyone around them had stopped moving. JB was stabilized, he just needed to change into a hospital gown to go up for a scan. She nodded, embarrassment creeping up her cheeks as she realized how far she had gone with him.

“We’re going to prepare you for a scan, okay? So we can know what to do.” She explained to him. Jaebum nodded and he had noticed how pink her cheeks were turning.

“Okay, sweet cheeks.” He teased.

-

There were two soldiers who had to pass an MRI before JB, so they waited in his room until the machine was free. Annabelle stayed with him while Caleb went out and helped with other patients. The door slid open, and Annabelle looked up to find five soldiers in the doorstep.

"Hello." They greeted her. Jaebum could only look at the ceiling but recognized the voices. The soldiers were all lightly injured. They had bandages and stitches but nothing too serious.

 “Captain Im.” One of them called.

“Guys.” Jaebum replied. Annabelle hesitated to incline his bed up so he could see them but decided otherwise since she still didn’t know how his spinal cord was. “Are you all okay?”

“Yes, sir.” The same one replied.

“Wilson, report.” Jaebum ordered hoarsely. Another first class pushed his way to the front of the small crowd and stood straight with his hands behind his back. He looked straight in front of him.

“Stevenson didn’t make it, sir.” He announced.

“My god…” Jaebum sighed, and Annabelle was pained by his facial expression.

“He’s the only one for now. Edward and Lopez are in critical condition.” He added.

“Thank you, soldier.” Jaebum said quietly, before lifting his thumb and pointing towards his doctor. “This is Annabelle, by the way.”

"Oh." Wilson’s eyes widened. His serious expression broke into a lighter one, and all eyes turned to her. They knew about her?

"Cap's one hell of a lucky bastard isn't he?" He said, looking back at his fellow soldiers who’s eyes had widened as well, but they were surprised because of his words, not Annabelle. Wilson turned back around before he could see one of his colleagues making a “cut it’ hand motion around his throat and kept going. “He told us you were hot, but man was that an understatement.” He said appreciatively, his hands coming in front of him and his thumbs tucked in his belt. Annabelle slapped a hand over her mouth.

“Wilson.” Jaebum barked. The soldier jumped and put his hands back behind his back, face locked and eyes hard. Annabelle was impressed.

‘Sorry, sir.” He said too loudly. Jaebum sighed.

“I’ll be fine, just snapped my neck. Out of my sight. All of you.” He ordered.

-

“I had a reservation for tomorrow night.” Jaebum spoke from inside the MRI machine. His face was on display in the control room, the screen showing a close-up shot of his face for Annabelle, Caleb, and the technician in charge of the machine to observe. The angle wasn't flattering at all, but Annabelle found him handsome either way. The technician gave her a funny look but she didn't pick up on it. She, for the very first time, put her fear of exposing herself aside and decided not give Jaebum all the reassurance he needed. She pressed the intercom button to respond.

“Did you?” She prompted. She was uncomfortable; she didn't share a lot of her private life to anyone but Caleb, but kept going.

 “Yeah. I know you’re more of a Netflix and chill kind of gal, but- I don’t know…” Jaebum murmured, looking up at the ceiling just a few inches above his forehead.

“It may have been almost 9 months, it’s the first time we meet so… I wanted to impress you.” He admitted bashfully, and boy it was a show to watch this man blush.

“You _are_ impressing me, JB. That was one hell of an arrival, wasn’t it?” Annabelle joked to put him at ease. He laughed a little, his amused expression quickly dissolving into a deep frown.

“And the other car's driver? Did he die?” He asked.

“I don’t know.” Annabelle replied quickly. ‘I’ll try to find that out for you.”

Jaebum huffed, and she could almost see his mind starting to reel with all kinds of thoughts.

“I managed not to lose any of my men back there.” He said bitterly. “That would be one funny fucking joke if- “

“JB.” She cut him off. “Calm down.” She said softly.  “Do you know what _I_ had planned for tomorrow?”

“No.” He replied, curiosity in his voice and on his face.

“I was going to tell you to meet me at Wallace’s.”  She confessed, and she wasn't proud of that sappy side of hers. Going back where they first met was such a classic move, but it was what she wanted to go. She didn't want to want to do that, but it made her realize how human she actually was.

“We would have remembered the night we met, eaten a whole lot because I know how you miss real food.”

Jaebum groaned, closing his eyes. She thought he might look like that when orgasming.

"I could murder a doughnut." He muttered.

“I'll take you to a nice place when you recover.” She promised. Jaebum hummed and smiled, his eyes opening.

“I’m a little bit disappointed.” He admitted quietly. “I didn’t even get to hold you yet. I still kind of miss you.” He said, and Annabelle felt her cheeks heat up. She was trying to put aside her fear of being exposed but she had her limits. She glanced at Caleb and the technician who were lowering their heads uncomfortably. She blushed furiously. She knew Caleb and her were going to have a long discussion about everything that happened today.

“Just be a little more patient.” She mumbled. And strangely, it's only at that moment she decided to do to what she was here for. She looked at his scan.

“You know I’m not.” Jaebum retorted.

“You’ve waited a while already.” She reminded hm. She was on his scan that there was no apparent fracture. He just had dislocated his neck. 

“And I nearly lost my mind.” He muttered.

-

“So." Annabelle prompted, pushing his bed forward with the help of Caleb. "There is no fracture but you did snap it quite brilliantly." She said.

"And I thought you were dramatic." Jaebum grumbled in a sigh.

"So what are we going to do to snap it back in place, cap?" Annabelle asked.

"Traction and weights?" He proposed. Annabelle thought he was too good to be a soldier. He should have become a doctor; he would have been brilliant.

"You wouldn't be laying here like this if you had become a doctor." She reminded him, and she thought she was smooth.

"Trust me, if I had become a doctor, I would have shined so brightly you would probably have hated me." Jaebum sassed, overconfident.

"Oh, sure enough, cap." Annabelle mocked, and he laughed silently.

“You’ll stay with me?” He asked quietly. When Annabelle looked down at him, his eyes were soft and calm and he had a faint smile on his face.

"Yeah, I'll take care of you." She murmured, but then she thought they were getting too intimate for her own taste.

"Needy old man." She added. Jaebum laughed out loud.

"Fucking-"

"Shut up." She giggled. She glanced up at Caleb who had been a silent watcher all night.

“Uh, I guess you've met Caleb now." Annabelle said, realizing the two hadn't spoken to each other yet.

"Yeah. Nice to meet you." Jaebum rasped.

“Nice to meet you, captain. I thought it would be around a beer, but that’s great too.” Caleb replied.

“You can call be JB, pal." Jaebum said as they entered his room. They parked his bed.

"I'll go grab the halo and Catherine to suture his leg. Be back in a sec." He said before disappearing, not leaving Annabelle time to say anything. 

She looked back at her soldier, and he was smiling as if he was up to something. He just always had that look, always. Jaebum's eyes travelled across her face, she had the greenest eyes ever. Her pupils were like freshly picked apples, and they were big and nicely slanted, and her hair looked soft and shiny. He looked at her mouth and licked his own lips. Her mouth looked like a real life emoji. So pretty. _So_ pretty.

“Kiss me.” He whispered, thinking her was speaking to himself but actually ordering her. He looked back up at her eyes Annabelle almost gasped. They couldn't kiss right now. Well, they could but...

"I'm scared I'll hurt you." She murmured. If she had kissed him the way she wanted to kiss him, he would break his neck a few times. Jaebum smirked.

"You denying me is what's hurting me right now." He complained playfully. "What did your oath say again? Yeah 'Do no harm'." He quoted, and he was getting smart-assed again. 

"And the harm is real, right now. You're a doctor aren't you? And your patient's in need for some TLC. You're harming me so-" He was cut off by Annabelle rolling her eyes in the rudest way he had ever witnessed. He gasped and almost choked.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me, young girl." He scolded, frowning deeply.

"And you say _I'm_ dramatic." She snorted. Jaebum made a noise of disapproval and wriggled his fingers until he caught her hand in his.

"Just one." He said more seriously, his thumb stroking her knuckles. She had delicate hands, her fingers were incredibly thin an and feminine. "Come on."

"Captain..." Annabelle whined, and Jaebum squeezed her hand.

"Kiss me, soldier." He said more firmly. Annabelle arched a brow at him. "It's an order." Jaebum genuinely hoped authority would work on her this time, even if she was a brat. Annabelle sighed, caving in, not so reluctantly.

When she leaned close and nuzzled him, he smiled. She smelled good, she smelled like strawberry ice cream. She pressed her lips against his, and they were the sweetest thing he had ever tasted. It was soft and warm and tender, and he wanted to grab the back of her neck and pull her close, be engulfed in her and her sweetness. He couldn't move though, could only hum in sheer approval and try to coax her mouth open with a soft lick of his tongue. 

Annabelle felt a moan bubble in her back of her throat. She pulled away reluctantly; she couldn't be seen like that. She stayed close to his face, breathing the same air as him and she met his clouded eyes. Jaebum licked his lips and smirked again.

“You have no idea how bad I've wanted this.” He whispers dreamily. She shook her head and straightened her back, and realized her legs were wobbly. He had way too much effect on her. It was just a kiss, for god's sake. But she knew it would feel like this. It felt like this the first time they met too. When all the tension and bustle from the incident that brought them together faded away and they were left alone in that restaurant. Right before she left in an ambulance, the three little words he said before he closed the doors of the vehicle made her feel like that too.

“You’re a pretty good kisser, cap. Do they teach that in the army?” She teased, to hide how devastated she was. He chuckled and narrowed his eyes.

“Shut up.” He said, smiling fondly at her. He appreciated the sight of her once more, eyes lingering on the faint freckles on her cheeks and nose.

“You look even more beautiful in real life.” He complimented out of the blue, frowning. “Never saw those freckles on my screen. And I don't remember them from the time you fell head over hills for me.” He murmured. He really was a jerk. But they both realized how poor video quality made them underestimate their respective attractiveness. Annabelle didn't react. Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest and appreciated his face.

“Never saw that grey hair on my screen.” She observed. Jaebum's eyebrows brushed his hairline.

“You’re making fun of my age again, huh?” He said, a threat in his voice. “Annabelle, you are such a brat. I’ve always wanted to tell you this.”

“I’m not.” She shook her head, but really she was.

“You are. so. rude." He said pointedly. "And I'm not used to that. I have obedient first classes."

"Well, I'm not one of your soldiers, captain." She mocked, proud to be insolent. Caleb and Catherine arrived with the equipment, pulling them out of their reverie.

“We have to start now, JB.” Annabelle said softly as Caleb laid the impressive installment on a table. Catherine sat down next to his bed around his leg.

“Alright.” Jaebum agreed and took a deep breath. She put gloves on and grabbed one of the three syringes to numb his scalp.

 “You okay?” Annabelle asked out of reflex, even though she knew it hurt and there was nothing she could do to prevent it.

“Yep.” Jaebum voice was tight like he was holding his breath. She smirked at his bluffing.

“We don’t give extra points for pain tolerance.” She reminded him, and she scoffed, hissed when Caleb inserted the second needle.

“What does it change if I admit it hurts? You can’t numb me before the numbing.” Jaebum retorted.

“You talk too much.”

Jaebum cracked a loud laugh. Annabelle was definitely disrespectful to him. He was a thirty- eight-year-old army captain, and she was some thirty-three-year-old girl and couldn't even drink a glass of wine without getting pissed.

“Rude.” He muttered. Annabelle took care of the needle at the top of his head and Jaebum gritted his teeth. She then grabbed the Crutchfield stirrup and Caleb and her aligned it with the numbed spots on his skull.

“You’re going- “

“To feel a little pressure. Yeah.” Jaebum cut Caleb off.

“Stop trying to look smart.” Annabelle teased.

“You have a medical education, captain?” Catherine asked somewhere around his legs. Annabelle and Caleb started to tighten the bolts on each of his temples.

“I enlisted right before my internship.” Jaebum explained.

“You were going to be a doctor?” 

“Yep.” He said proudly.

“When I met him, he was doing a tracheo in a bar.” Annabelle explains, remembering the scene.

“What?” Catherine utters. Caleb already knew the story.

“The guy had a penny in his throat. He was unconscious and too heavy for me, impossible to get it out.” Jaebum trailed off, smiling to himself. Annabelle still didn't understand how he could find that funny. She had arrived when he was pulling the ink tube out of a pencil with his teeth, before pushing it right into the guy’s throat without even sterilizing it.

“I did the right thing but still got yelled at by an arrogant, righteous and devastatingly sexy doctor who was passing by.” He explained, sending a wink in Annabelle's direction. Shad sunk onto her knees in her tight red dress and grabbed a napkin, all while telling Jaebum how much of an unconscious idiot he was. She had presented herself to the men who had gasped for air, eyes opening wide. Jaebum said he had done the right thing while she secured the makeshift instalment with strings of cut napkins. She yelled at him and took over.

How surprised was she to receive an e-mail a week later from the same guy she called stupid and all kinds of bird names. He had remembered her name and looked her up, found her linked-in profile and stalked her. That’s what Annabelle reproached him in her reply to his e-mail but even to this day Jaebum kept saying he wasn’t being a creep. They fell in love over skype, and tonight they were supposed to do something cute to celebrate their reunion.

“If that man had decided to sue you-“

“Why would he have sued me?” Jaebum exclaimed, and Annabelle almost pinched his nipple.

“Because someone who wasn’t a doctor sliced his throat open?” She proposed, and Jaebum rolled his eyes. Annabelle finished pushing the last bolt and wiped the blood around them, before Caleb finished the installation.

“Get me the weights, please.” Annabelle asked Christine who had finished suturing Jaebum's leg. She nodded and executed the order. When Annabelle looked down at Jaebum, he was watching her with a smug look, smile crooked on the side of his face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” She asked, frowning. He took a deep breath and gave her the fondest, sappiest look he could manage.

“You’re beautiful.” He said softly, and if they were playfully bickering ag first, the sincerity behind his words made her cheek heat. He breathed in and out as if short of breath.

“You need to stop that.” She muttered under her breath.  Jaebum laughed.

“Never. You can smart-ass-comment me all day every day, be rude and bratty with me, but I _live_ for that. For that embarrassed face of yours.” He said playfully, poking a finger at her cheek. She really was his sweet cheeks, his cute yet sexy girlfriend.

"That's when I get the upper hand." He breathed, letting his hand fall down when Annabelle swatted it away.

“You’re adorable.” He panted, his eyes disappearing behind his shit eating grin.

“I know. You can breathe now.” She deadpanned, and he snorted, chest rising and falling rapidly.

“Seriously, JB. Are you breathing normally?” She asked more worriedly, watching him frown and struggle.

“I’m feelin’ a little bit…” He trailed off and started panting loudly.

“Short of breath?” She asked, watching his vitals rile up, his saturation crumbling down.

“I can’t feel my legs.” He said, looking up at her with terrified eyes. The same look he had when he had been brought in. Christine returned with the weights.

Spinal cord, spinal cord, spinal fucking cord! Annabelle circled the bed and stood behind JB's head.

“The bone must have moved; we don’t have time for the weights.”  Annabelle said as Caleb, who had been watching and listening to their playful interaction with morbid interest, closed in, ready to take action.

“I take his head, you take his shoulders. On three.” Annabelle ordered. They were going to snap it back in place like that?!

“Annabelle.” Jaebum called in fear. Was it going to hurt? Caleb placed his hands on Jaebum's shoulders and waited, and Annabelle put her hands under his chin.

“One, two, three.” He counted and pulled. There was a loud crack and Jaebum groaned loudly. He panted rapidly, looking up at the ceiling with wide eyes. _My god, my god_. He thought.

“How are you feeling?” Annabelle asked. 

“My legs.” He shouted.

“I don’t get it.” She muttered, turning and searching for his X rays. “Let me look at his scan.”

Caleb pulled them out and showed her a first sheet. She brought up to the light and looked closely. She didn't see anything wrong in the peripheral of his injury- at first. 

“There is blood compressing his spinal cord, get him in the OR.” Annabelle ordered after a beat, not even taking time for wondering just how she did not see that earlier. She went to lift the brakes of his bed, but JB stopped everyone.

“No!” He shouted. Caleb and Christine stopped, and Annabelle didn't pick up on his refusal. Not as a refusal at least, just an expression of fear.

"You have internal bleeding. It's compressing your spinal cord and you might end up paralyzed." She explained quickly, persuaded that he just needed more details about what was going on.

"Put a thoracic drain, don't touch my spinal cord." He ordered, his voice clipped. That, made her realize. She moved and walked over the side of his bed to look at him. He was...angry.

"You have an internal bleeding not a pneumothorax." She said slowly. JB looked at her right in the eyes, and his stare was indescribable. She thought that's the look he gives to rude, smart-assed first classes like her.

"If you operate I can either be okay, or paralyzed." He said slowly.

"Yes, we know."

"I don't want to." He breathed. "I'd rather die. No surgery."

"Captain Im." Caleb pressed. It _was_ a refusal.

"JB." She started. "You-"

"No." He cut her off, nostrils flaring. He was getting angry...at her. "I'm a team leader. A commander, a teacher and a chief. Either I'm all of that or I'm nothing." He declared. Annabelle was used to this kind of reaction from her patient. It was just fear overtaking, not actual anger directed to her, but from him, it was a little bit harder to ignore.

"I know it's scary, but-"

"What the _fuck_ do you know?!" He hissed, breathing harshly. Annabelle actually flinched at his words.

"I'm not going to live like that, I'm a soldier!" He said, and Annabelle stuttered, collecting her usual thoughts and arguments that had been scattered around her mind.

"Mr. Im-" Caleb tried.

"No!" He refused, eyes sweeping to him, before snapping back to Annabelle. He spoke more calmly.

"We met right before I left. You're barely even my girlfriend." He muttered. Annabelle didn't gasp but felt the need to. She let his bed go and took a step back. 

 _Woah, woah, woah_. She thought.

"And you're telling me you'll support me?" He challenged. "You'll take care of me?"

Both Caleb and Christine were waiting for her reaction. She wanted to cry; both pain and anger forming a tight knot in her throat.

"And you'd deal with the fact that I wouldn't be able to get my dick up for you before we even had sex?!" He spat. Christine and Caleb both lowered their heads in a " _Oh, no_ " manner, their hand coming up to pinch their noses.

Annabelle was in shock. She hardly glared at him even if she wanted to. He was fine, kind and sweet a minute ago.

"You who likes to be banged against every fucking _surface_?!" He yelled for the whole hospital to hear. This time, Annabelle hid her face in her hand too. She decided she was done with him. And she was angry and deeply hurt.

He was exposing her now.

Over the months, she trusted him enough to share her sexual preferences with him. She regretted that.

"The door slid open but she didn't bother to look.

"Captain, you should keep it low." A soldier said quietly. Everyone in a 15-meter radius had heard that. If Annabelle could dissolve into a puddle of Lorazepam, she would have done just that.

"Did I summon your opinion, first class Wilson?" Jaebum hissed. Annabelle didn't want to look. She just didn't want to.

"No, sir." The soldier replied.

"I'm not even paralyzed yet, and you start disrespecting me?"

"No-"

"Out of my sight!" He yelled. Annabelle only looked up when the soldier left, decided to speak out and tell him when he was going to crawl back to her (because he was going to) she would not forgive him.

But her eyes met Jaebum's cool stare, and he was impassible.

"You too." He ordered her.

"Captain Im.” Caleb tried again.

“I do not give you my consent.” He articulated. “Get out.”

And Annabelle did. She stormed out because she wasn't able to deal with him at that moment. She just turned on her heels and fled, freezing when she realized the hall had turned silent. Injured soldiers and colleagues all staring at her. All those people were aware that she liked to be "banged against every fucking surface"

Mortified, she lowered her head and took quick strides to the lockers room, where she busted into tears.

Doctors were used to have their nerves tested, being insulted and disregarded. They always knew it was part of the deal, and all the comments from ungrateful patients, and from anyone really, always hit a wall. But when they let someone in, it wasn't the same. They could get severely _hurt_ if they let someone.

She flared like an angry bull, hitting both of her fists on a lock. Once, twice, letting the frustration out and not seeming to be able to stop.

 "Hey, hey, hey!" Caleb called, rushing inside the room with her. 

"Annabelle!" He said, grabbing her shoulders and turning he around. Her face had turned an angry crimson, her eyes big and tearful and swollen, snot running down onto he top lip, and she was huffing loudly. She was a funny mess, but Caleb thought she was beautiful. She heaved and shoved at his chest, but he didn't budge.

"Annabelle, calm down!" He shook her until she stopped her futile fight. She sobbed, and he pulled her to him, cradling her head against his shoulder. He was tall and strong and muscular and she always felt safe around him.

"You need to calm down, baby girl." He murmured, hands slowly caressing her hair and back, and she was shaking and had trouble breathing.

"Breathe, sweetheart. Breathe." He crooned. And it broke his heart to see her like this. He thought Jaebum was a good man. He must be if Annabelle had let him in like that, and part of him started doubting that. It's not always good to have people that can hurt you around you. Yes, it just shows how smitten she is, if he can have her crying like that, but that doesn't mean he's right for her.

"I'm sure he didn't mean what he said." He murmured. Annabelle pulled away, and she had strands of hair sticking to her cheeks and forehead. She wiped her snot on the back of her hand in the most unladylike manner, but she looked adorable.

"In front of everyone." She sobbed.

"I know, sweetheart. I know." Calen concurred, hands coming her to cup her face. His thumb stroked her cheeks back and forth. When his beeper when off, he winced.

"Look." He said, letting her go and taking a quick glance at the device in his pocket.

"I have to go, I'm sorry. You take a minute and go for a walk, okay?" He proposed, giving her shoulders a squeeze. Annabelle nodded and hiccupped.

"Leave the lockers alone." He ordered; and he meant it. Annabelle nodded again. She wasn't going to hit them again, her hands hurt.

"Thank you." She said quietly. Caleb hummed and kissed her temple. She was so sweet to him.

"Anytime, baby girl." He said before escaping.

Annabelle went to the adjacent bathroom, pulled her hair up in a ponytail and washed her face. Then she moisturized her skin with her cream and laid on a bench. She didn't want to walk because it meant walking across the hall again.  She thought she had been so useless, losing her time on a single patient who turned out to be an asshole. She thought she shouldn’t feel so hurt because he was just angry and scared, but she couldn’t help it. That’s something she hated about herself. She couldn’t help feeling deeply hurt even when she knew she had no reason to be.

* * *

 

"You're going to get surgery." She declared, and thought she was a little sure than she should be. JB just shot her a dirty look.

"Keep your ass out of this." He grinded, and the words hurt. She knew it wasn't like he was hurting her just to hurt her, but each syllable still felt like a blow. She waved a syringe. 

"You see that?" She trailed off, watching Jaebum frown. Despite his current endeavor, Annabelle though Jaebum looked adorable when he was frowning. He looked almost like a baby.

"This drug is going to put you to sleep." She said, circling his bed to were his IV was.

"Annabelle!" Jaebum bristled, balling his fists abruptly.

"I'll open you myself if I have to." Annabelle threatened, reaching for his IV.

"If you do this- Annabelle!" He yelled, huffing and puffing.

"I'll never forgive you, I'll sue you and this hospital, I'll never fucking speak to you again, Annabelle." He threatened as well. "You're going to end our relationship before it even started."

"Before it even started?!" Annabelle uttered, glaring at him. He couldn't see her wrathful stare but he could most certainly feel it. 

"Help!"

Annabelle snapped her head back, pulling the curtain between the two trauma rooms open and discovering first class Wilson slumped down the bed. Emma, an intern, was trying to get him to lay down. The man was unconscious and Emma was panicking.

"What's going on?" Annabelle asked, putting her needle back in her pocket and striding inside the room, closing the curtain behind her. Another doctor joined them, along with a nurse, and they got him to lay on his back with both feet on the bed.

"I don't know." Emma stuttered, plugging him on the monitor so they could know what was going on. "He was fine, we were talking and he stopped breathing." She explained. His heartbeat rate was completely flat.

"Asystole”. Get me a crash cart and start the massage." Annabelle ordered. To other people, she would have sounded way too bossy, but she was just straight to the point; like all doctors are. Everyone here knew what everything was, everyone knew what to do, and every second was decisive, so there was none to waste on politeness. Christine stepped on the stool so she was towering over the unconscious soldier, joined her hands above each other and started the cardiac massage like she'd been taught to. When the kit was handed out to her, Annabelle leaned over the man and opened his mouth. She slid the tube in and pushed it down his throat, observing everything through the laryngoscope. She smacked her tongue in frustration.

"I can't see the vocal chords." She muttered.

"Clear." The other doctor said, making her look up. He was holding the defibrillator ready. The soldier's chest was exposed, revealing big brown cutaneous growths on his abdomen. The diagnostic came to her mind in a nanosecond. He was coming back from Syria; it had to be visceral leishmaniosis - Black fever. 

At that moment, she knew he was going to die no matter what. Now it was just about giving him more time.

"One second." She said quickly, tilting the tube back a little. The rosy strings appeared in front of her eyes.

"Okay." She breathed, clipping the laryngoscope off and stepping away from the body. Dr Henry gave a first discharge; Christine immediately started massaging again but the monitor didn't show any response.  Annabelle attached the bag to the end of the tube. 

"Charge." The doctor announced. After another fifteen seconds of massaging and bagging, they all cleared a safe radius around the soldier before the shock.

They kept going for another thirty minutes, because they knew they could not lose him. A soldier, coming back from hell without dying couldn’t die back on the American soil. He hadn't gone there just to die when he came back.

This guy had been fine an hour ago. He was young and he had served his country, he deserved to be saved at any cost.

Emma was panting, sweat bidding on her forehead as she kept massaging his torso in between each defibrillation, the steady flatness of the monitor telling her she'd have to do it again and again. She was sure she had broken a few of his ribs now, but it was a price anyone would be willing to pay to be saved.

Annabelle's fingers were cramping from bagging him. It had been forty-five minutes. Dr Henry gave her a look she knew too well. She sighs, her fingers stilling. The monitor was flat and hope was gone. Emma was panting in rhythm with her massage, so focused on her task she hadn't noticed everything had frozen around her.

"Emma." Annabelle called, pulling the intern out of her daze- or fury. She looked up, her eyes were filled with tears. Annabelle gave her shoulder a squeeze and shook her head. She blinked a few times, as if she had forgotten where she was.

Emma nodded, wiping her tears away.

"Death time: 21:34." Annabelle declared, sighing deeply. As soon as the adrenaline rush faded away and she was cruelly brought back to reality. A mix of disappointment, pain and a feeling of failure invaded her heart. She had lost a patient, and she could lose her apparently-not-boyfriend.

She knew she would get him to go surgery, but fuck, she had woken up thinking she'd have a normal day, and now she was forcing a guy who she thought was her boyfriend to get surgery to fix his bleeding, and she lost a homecoming soldier who is one of many.

She was determined to heal JB, but she knew it would probably hurt her really bad. Annabelle was so fragile. She was a rock, fissured from the inside. JB engulfed in the breaches so quick, she couldn't stop him, and now she has to make sure he doesn't abandon her.

When she went back in the soldier’s room, closing the curtain separating him from his subordinate's cooling corpse, JB was looking straight in front of him, restrained by the impressive system around his head. It's only when Annabelle leaned over that she saw his expression. His eyes were wide and teary, face looking like a terrified child's. He had heard everything.

"Was that first class Wilson?" He asked, his voice quiet.

"Yes. I’m sorry." Annabelle said, and a tear fell out of the captain's eye. He sighed deeply, sniffling. “Black fever. He was a ticking bomb.” She said in a way of explanation. Jaebum closed his eyes. He was in deep pain.

"I'm going to prepare you for surgery. I'd rather not drug you first." Annabelle declared, feeling like he was much more cooperative now he witnessed a life being wasted for no reason. JB looked at her with his teary eyes, and he looked like a lost puppy. The contrast was too big between the heartless jerk he was a second ago. It's the first image of him that Annabelle remembers; harsh words and anger.

“I’ll do it.” He whispered.

"Okay."  She murmured, relieved but without showing it. Instead, she circled his bed and grabbed a pre-op form. She clicked her pen and filled it without a word or glance in his direction.

"Belle." JB called softly. The hairs on her forearms rose furiously. She bristled instantaneously. How dared he?

This nickname was reserved to their tender moments. It was when he'd call her before she went to sleep, when she was gorgy and couldn't put two words together. When she moaned quietly between his words to pretend she was still awake and listening, when really she was three quarters asleep.

It was reserved to the moments he'd tell her about his day, about something that reminded him of her. It was surely not appropriate now he brushed off all those moments, labelling them as meaningless. She was _'barely'_ his girlfriend, after all.

"No." She snapped, finally lifting her eyes to give him a wrathful glare. He was crawling back to her like a miserable animal. She hadn't forgotten yet- everything he said was still imprinted in her mind, emotional wounds still bleeding.

"Sweet cheeks, I-" He tried, but she clicked her pen again and left the room. She wasn't his sweet cheeks; she wasn't Belle anymore. He had decided it.

She hid in the lockers room again. Sat on a bench and dropped her head in her hands. She closed her eyes and sighed, but didn't cry this time. She was drained from everything. Her fear, anxiousness, physical and mental strength? All gone. Dead. She was a shell. Her eyes were glassy as she stared at the floor. She was off. Worn out.

"Anna, sweetie?"

Annabelle looked up and saw her friend Caleb tiptoeing his way into the room. He had a sad expression on his face. He wanted to hug her really bad.

 “He’s looking for you.” He said, taking a few steps closer. She almost went _'who?'._

That was just how out of it she was. Sometimes she did that on purpose, went out of her own head and kind of levitated over her body, watching but barely there. She regained her persona and blinked.

“Now that he’s scared and vulnerable.” She said bitterly. She was completely aware Jaebum's words were words of anger and mostly fear, but they were just too loud and she wasn't sure they were close enough for her to be his stress reliever word-punching bag thing.

"Listen," Caleb said, crouching down in front of her. He placed his hands on her knees and looked up at her with his baby blues. He had a gorgeous face.

“You have all rights to be mad at him, but just…" He made a grimace, crinkling his nose. "not right now.”

Annabelle scoffed. _'Not right now'_. That just _had_ to be a joke.

“Annabelle, he is absolutely _terrified_.” Caleb argued. And she was _hurt._

"If a man like him shows his fear, it means he's _shitting_ his pants. He won't let us take him to the OR without talking to you." Caleb explained.

"Put him to sleep." She retorted, and Caleb sort of flinched. When he spoke, his voice was softer, but more serious.

"He's a troop captain, he serves our country. I have too much respect to do that." He said quietly.

"And I'm a bitch." Annabelle scoffed.

"Yeah." Caleb deadpanned.  "And you have the right to be a bitch. _After_ the surgery."

Annabelle just looked away and shook her head, pulling that scowl Caleb hated. He lost part of his patience.

"Annie, come on, please. Let's just get this over with. We'll all deal with that later." He pressed, tapping her thighs and rising. He took her hand and pulled her up.

"Come on." He encouraged, dragging her behind him as she protested.

“We’ll do our best, captain Im.” Christine was saying when Annabelle got pushed inside the room. JB looked miserable. He was breathing heavily, painfully. He was placed under high debit oxygen because the freaking bleeding was probably compressing his lungs and heart, the pressure increasing at whatever speed and everything was delayed because Annabelle was _hurt._  

“I want to talk to Annabelle.” He begged, eyes clouded and almost closing. She slapped herself mentally, her feet moving from heavy and reluctant to forward and fast as she rushed to his side.

"Jaebum." She breathed, horrified and angry ag the same time. He looked up at her, his face contorting as he threatened to cry.

 “Belle.” It was almost a sob. She took it hand and squeezed it hard.

“I’ll be there when you wake up.” She promised. She was not going to abandon him.

“I’m so sorry.” Jaebum rasped. He was so short of breath, he looked like he could have asthma. 

“You need to relax, JB.” She cooed softly.

“I didn’t think what I said- I was- I’m scared.”

“I know.” She said. “I’ll still be there when this is over. You’ll be fine. But you have to go now."

When Jaebum nodded, it was like everyone had been waiting for it. When he slightly inclined his head, Annabelle heard a click and they were pushing his bed forward, like they had been on their toes for years.

“I love you.” Jaebum whispered before she let his hand go. She barely heard it, but she did hear it. She was unable to respond, his words feeling like both a slap and a caress. Suddenly, she questioned everything she knew. Her mind started reeling. She stood there, alone in the empty trauma room. And he loved her.

She realized, then, that was not what she had signed up for this morning when she woke up. She never expected the past three hours to ever happen in her life, ever. And it was _a lot_.

She fainted.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait guys!

Anna yawned as she retrieved her bag from the lockers room. This shift had been quite intense. As wild as a Friday night can get. She had briefly considered changing jobs while pulling out 43 pins out of a man’s back, but now all she had in mind wad her bed. And food. She swung her bag over her shoulder and went out, dragging her feet behind her. She had an internal dilemma: she was starving, famished, she  _had_ to eat. But that would mean she wouldn’t get to just kick her shoes off and collapse onto her bed, disappearing in a deep comatose state. She was tired, exhausted, beat.

“Annie, baby.” Caleb trotted, catching up with her. He had his bag as well and was ready to finish what had been the most tiring night shift ever.

“Hi.” She murmured as he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

“Tryna escape without giving me a kiss?” He teased, giving her cheek a wet kiss. She moaned and recoiled.  _Gross._

“Thought Gavin was keeping you busy.” She sniped back, looking up at him to watch his reaction. He threw his head back and clutched his chest like he had been shot and groaned dramatically.

“Lame.” He shook his head, and Annabelle giggled. “Lame.”

“I knew you would chicken out. I knew it.” She celebrated, elbowing him in the rib-cage.

“Listen, Gave’s a little asshole, okay?” Caleb held a finger up pointedly. “He’s an asshole. Let’s start there.”

‘Okay.“

"Comes to me all flirty and shit, keeps giving me those fuck me eyes.” He muttered. God, the fuck me eyes. Annabelle had been served a freaking rant about those. It lasted days.

“And he shows up with a belt and dress shoes.” He said bitterly. Annabelle thought she had missed a part of the story.

“What?”

“Yeah.” Caleb concurred. “A belt.”

“How’s that a turnoff?” She asked as they avoided an incoming stretcher.

“Clearly, the guy had dressed for a date.” Caleb explained as they arrived in the hall and the reception. “I don’t-”

“Do dates, yeah.” Annabelle rolled her eyes as she grabbed a tablet to check out. Caleb had to be both the straightest and gayest man on earth. He just did one night stands one after the other. Girls, boys, trans, threesomes, foursomes, some things he did were ugly. And Caleb was happy with that. He was a slut and he lived for it. Annabelle, on her side, was just amazed he managed to meet people while being on the night shift team.

“But. Maybe he wanted to whip you with it.” Annabelle proposed; and it sounded like a joke, but she meant it. Caleb froze, eyebrows meeting his airlines.  _Oh._

“Do you mind checking me out?” He said quietly, handing her his badge. Annabelle shook her head at him. He hadn’t even thought about that.

“Gotta go brush my…stethoscope.” He said, eyes eyeing the pathology department’s door. Where Gavin worked.

“Sure.” She tittered, and Caleb just bolted away.

“If it works out, you treat me breakfast.” She called after him.

“Okay! Watch my bag!” He replied, waving a hand over his head. 

-

When Caleb went back to Bertha’s desk, he was humming  _Sexual Healing_  with a smug smile on his face. He picked up his bag and badge, and Annabelle watched him with an equally smug look.

“So?” She prompted as they headed towards the exit. Caleb took a deep breath and pulled Annabelle closer.

“Apparently, the guy had a belt 'cause he had no underwear." 

"My god.” Annabelle chocked on her own laugh.

“Off to Leon’s. My treat!” He declared, and boy he was happy.

“Can I tag along? Did my first tracheo today.” Christine chimed in, joining them as they stepped out of the hospital.

“Really?” Caleb replied.

“She handled it like a pro.” Annabelle explained. She had been here, and it was so much better than the butchery Jaebum did when they met.

“That deserves a bagel.” He said, snaking an arm around Christine’s shoulders, pulling both of his chicks close.

“It was so impressive.” Christine beamed, recalling the operation. "The patient was allergic to peanuts, and his friends shoved a handful of themin his mouth. Everything was so swollen, I couldn’t even see his glottis.“

"What a friend.” Caleb grimaced. “Sounds like something I would do.”

-

“How’s your soldier doing?” Christine asked as they sat down on the terrace of their favorite breakfast place, trading their usual seats for the sunny bit of the restaurant since it was a particularly hot day.

“Good.” Annabelle replied, digging into her pancakes before even putting her tray down. "He just needs to let his back heal, and he’ll be fine.“

"So his spinal cord is intact?” Caleb asked. Annabelle shoved half of her plate in her mouth.

“Errthing’s fine.” She mumbled. Caleb shifted in his seat.

“Even…” He trailed off, shrugging a shoulder to make it look like he was acting casual. "Can he stand… tall? In all- all his glory…?“

"Chaleph.” Annabelle was appalled by his question.

“He made the remark himself!” He argued, defensive.

“Was so worried he couldn’t  _bang you against every fucking surface_.” Christine snickered. Annabelle wanted to tell them off, but she realized that she couldn’t have been expecting less from them. Actually, why hadn’t they asked earlier?

“Everything is fine there too.”  She replied before swallowing. Caleb and Christine glanced at each other.

“And is it efficient?” He asked.  Annabelle looked up from her plate and gave him a 'really?“ look. She wasn’t sure she wanted to talk about that now, and not with Christine. She knew sex talk was a way to get closer to people, but she didn’t want to have that kind of talk with her. Especially not about what was  _really_  happening. 

"Are you guys going to interrogate me about my sex life?” She asked, exasperatedly. 

“Hell yeah.” Christine exclaimed. "I have a major soldier kink.“

Annabelle looked at her and tilted her head in a thoughtful manner. She didn’t realize Christine was such a… Caleb.

"Did you know Caleb has a vibrating dildo?” She blurted out. Caleb nearly chocked on his food.

“Hey you-”

“Does he?” Christine’s face lit up like a Christmas tree.

“No, don’t change subjects-”

“Five inches wide.” Annabelle precised, nodding slowly. Christine laughed, slapping a hand on his shoulder while he glared at Annabelle.

“No wonder why you’re so easy to talk to. It’s been long since you’re not uptight anymore.” She complimented. And really it was a compliment to her.

“Okay, we’re splitting the bill.” Caleb announced.

“I can afford a bagel, Brad Pitt.” Annabelle retorted, condescendingly.

“Yeah, you can take your money and shove it up your ass along with your massive sex toy.” Christine added.

“Lame.” Caleb muttered. “Lame.”

-

“Alright, guys. I’m beat, gonna get some sleep.” Christine declared, stretching her arms over her head. 

“See ya.” Caleb said as she gave his cheek a peck and blew Annabelle a kiss.

“Bye.” Annabelle waved, and Christine collected her bag and left. Annabelle watched her walk away while taking a long sip of his soda.

“Anna.” He called to get her attention, and shifted uncomfortably when she put her eyes on him.

“I got that you didn’t want to talk about your sex life with Christine.” Captain obvious said. "But you know you can tell me. We’ve known each other for years.“ He argued, and he was right, she could tell him. They’ve known each other since med school, and it took time, like it always does with Annabelle, but he became her only and best friend over the years and they could pretty much talk about everything.

"We haven’t done it yet.” She admitted quietly.

“Why?” Caleb sounded astonished. She looked down and shoved two strawberries in her mouth..

“Oh, c'mon Annie. Don’t get shy with me now.” Caleb egged. "Is it because it’s, like, small?“

Annabelle nearly chocked.

"I mean, he’s asian.” Did je just-

“Chaleph.” She scolded. When he gave her a wry smile, she understood it was useless o try to make him decent. "I’ll jusss shay phat’s the leasht Asian part of him.“

"Woah, okay!” Caleb laughed, holding his hands up in defeat.

“It’s just that…” She shrugged, struggling to put a word on her feelings. Annabelle hadn’t thought about sex with JB until he was able to get up and walk, displaying his perfect ass and making his muscles roll with each step she took. Then, after that he started acting cocky and making innuendos. Clearly he wanted her and it made her surprisingly nervous. Not the butterflies in the stomach and blushing nervous but  _'i don’t know what’s going to happen after that_ ’ nervous. She knew there was going to be a fallout after they did it. Good? Bad? She didn’t know. He was the first man she had let in in a long time, and it was nice before, over skype, but now she had to do things with him and be in a real relationship. And she found that much scarier than long-distance relationships.

“I don’t know. I avoid it.” She confessed.

“Why is that?”

“Because-” She shrugged. "I don’t know.“ But she did. "Anxiety.”

“Annie.” Caleb cooed.

“I can’t give him that yet, what if-”

“Have you discussed it with him?” Caleb cut her off, knowing if she let her brain get started it would never stop until next year.

“No." 

"He hasn’t tried anything on you yet?” Caleb’s eyebrow made a triangle.

“It’s only been a few days since he can move his back." 

"You’ll have to sort it out with him eventually.” Caleb murmured.

“I know.” She said, and took a nostalgic sip of her soda.

 Annabelle went home and slept the morning away. She woke up at noon, her four hours of sleep more than enough for her. She showered and prepared herself for her daily workout.

-

Annabelle took the last turn before she arrived to the military medical center that was eight feet away for her. The street was empty and it was a straight line. She could have accelerated to cheat on her time but she never privileged speed. Her goal was to be able to run any distance at her maximal aerobic speed, and slowly increasing its level to be a long-lasting runner. Running was her priority workout. She had learned it only a few years ago but got good very quickly. Her backpack fastened on her shoulders and tied around her waist, she arrived to the center in what she thought was a good time. JB was waiting for her on the stairs like every day for the past week, timer in hand. And he had a real timer. Like, the round machine with buttons. Because he was old school. Annabelle didn’t miss that occasion to make fun of him. Jaebum called her a brat ad thew his timer at her.

“Seven minutes and 14 seconds.” He annouced, making a weir moue with his mouth. Annabelle put her hands on her knees to catch her breath. "Did you stop at Starbucks?“

When she looked up, flipping her ponytail back, JB had that same old smug smirk on his beautiful face. He was dressed in a T-shirt and workout shorts, his backpack sitting on the stairs below him between his legs. She was 3 seconds above her record.

"I left a minute late.” She panted, and it was a vain lie.

“Don’t lie to me, soldier.” He replied, pushing himself up on his feet. Annabelle drank the sight of him, all dreamy and sporty and sexy. He stepped closer and leaned in, Annabelle’s hands coming up to palm his biceps as he circled his arms around her.

“Hello.” She murmured before he kissed her sweet and tender. He smelled good. And he was about to get sweaty and sexy and he kissed like a goddamned pro. Annabelle had to pull away because she hadn’t caught her breath yet.

“How’s your back?” She asked, looking up at his eyes.

“Still bitchin’ a little, but keeps getting better.” He kissed her cheek twice.

“My doctor says I can’t be a contortionist anymore, but I’ll live with that.” He murmurs, his tongue darting out to lick a drop of sweat bellow her ear. Annabelle squeezed his arms, holding on tight to hide the fact that her knees almolst buckled.

“S'long as I can fight.” He grinned down at her. His words made the angry machine her brain was start to reel again. He had started the engine of her train of thoughts. An infernal machinery that had her frowning up at him as she jumped to a conclusion.

“Does it mean you’ll go back to Syria?” She asked. And that’s where that furious train of anxiety had taken her. He was happy as long as his injury didn’t prevent him from fighting for his country, which meant he had the intention to go back and fight, which meant he was going to leave her.

“What? Hey.” JB frowned, his grip around her loosening. Annabelle panicked.

“Woah, Annabelle.” He stepped back, holding his hand up, and she refrained herself from clinging to him.

“You’re already asking me to quit my job?” He asked, and she knew it was too soon for her to express her reticence. She had fucked up. And judging his reaction, he  _did_  have the intention to leave.

“I was just asking.” She lied, because she knew if she had been honest, he would have ran off.

“No, I know what it means to you. We’ve talked about this.” He argues. He knows how Annabelle is, she had warned him about her anxiety. About her fear of abandon and about how irrational she could get. 

“I was just asking.” She repeated, trying to convince herself. Jaebum eyed her, untrusting, but caved in the second she touched his arm to pull him back to her.

“Okay.” He murmured as she ran her hands over his shoulders.

“Relax, okay?” She cooed, eyes convincing, insisting. She could be a very good manipulator when she tried. She rose on the tips of her toes and planted another kiss on his lips, and Jaebum was a sucker for her kisses. He was so sweet on her it should be forbidden. When he hummed against her mouth, she pulled away.

“Let’s go.” She encouraged.

-

Annabelle and Jaebum have started working out at the medical center’s gym since he started reeducation. She keeps him company there and does her daily workout as well. It turned out to be a real torture for Jaebum to workout with her. The first time she arrived in just a sports bra and tight leggings he nearly fell over. 

She was a fine piece of cake, and she would get sweaty, which only made it harder for him. Literally. She’d come dressed like that every day but he never actually got used to it. She was like a prize he was proud of showing off around the gym. Most of the people there were men, and sometimes she’d be the only female there. It could get really feisty really fast.

 He still remembered the first time she arrived when they literally all stopped what they were doing and clapped in union. Annabelle had been embarrassed but still laughed it off. Jaebum wasn’t the overly jealous type. He knew fellas were constantly checking her out but he was proud of her. He only had two rules: don’t touch, don’t speak. If anyone approached her too closely, Annabelle would get her first glimpse of thermonuclear captain Im.

But today Annabelle was distant. She had decided to shut him out, but it wasn’t totally intentional. Her thoughts were loud in her head and she couldn’t bring herself to be present. She kept thinking about the discussion they had outside and making calculations to know if he was going to leave her. She wondered if she should leave him first. Obviously he was going to leave and Annabelle would never forgive him, she thought maybe she should end it before he did, to save her time and tears. She was so busy thinking, she barely heard anything outside her head- JB’s voice for instance.  And the more she kept thinking the more she was comforted in the idea that there was literally no point of staying with him if he was going back to Syria.

She wondered why she felt that way. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way. She hadn’t let JB all the way in. There were things he didn’t know and she had no intention to reveal, mostly because it would put her life in danger, but also because she thought he previous relationship crashed because she was in too deep. She didn’t dive in this relationship in hopes of becoming his wife or something. She just wanted to try. He was sweet, funny, handsome, a little bit arrogant, and he had that older brother vibe that made her feel a little bit safer. She just knew she wanted to be more than friends, but not that much more. Nothing that serious. Nothing that would want to make her ask him to quit his job and stay with her forever. He was supposed to be close to her heart but far enough that she wouldn’t fear being abandoned that much. Needless to say her plan was a disaster.

“One more.” Jaebum ordered when Annabelle finished her last set of leg press. Her thighs were sore and trembling.

“You said fifty.” She argued, shooting him a disapproving glare.

“I said fifty-five.” He lied, propping his hands on his hips. His T-shirt was drenched in sweat around his collar, she noticed at that moment. 

“Ugh.” She muttered and did five more of them, painfully.

“And we’re done, good job soldier.” JB complimented, and her knees gave up on her. She whimpered but JB blocked the weights in time before the machine crashed her legs.

“You okay?” He asked worriedly, giving her his hand.

“Yeah.” She replied, taking it and pulling her sore body out of the thing.

  
“I’m going to run again for a bit.” She lied, and it was just so she could have some time without him being sexy and sweaty and making her life hard.

“Okay.” JB said, already adding more weight onto the leg press for his own use. The treadmills were across the room. Still too close for her not to feel her sex appeal from there. So when JB laid down on the machine she took a sharp turn to the left and escaped this corner of the gym. She went to the section with mats, benches and other machines for abs workout. She crossed the room towards the most isolated corner to use a mat and hear herself think. She laid down and less than a second later she was already being disturbed.

“Hi.”

She looked up to find a sweaty dude smiling down at her, elbow propped on a crunch machine. She sat up and gave him a quizzical look.

“Do you know how that thing works?” He asked, feigning ignorance.  _Lame._ She thought.  _Lame._

“Yes.” She replied. “And you do too, I saw you on the other one.” She pointed towards the other machine across the room. The man didn’t let that faze him. He showed her his perfect teeth.

“So you were looking at me?” He retorted, Annabelle had to laugh at that, because it was kind of smooth. She knew it would only encourage him but she couldn’t help it.

“Are you single?” The guy asked once her laughter faded.

“No.”

It wasn’t Annabelle that answered. She leaned to the side to see where that familiar voice came from, and saw JB stuttering over. 

Shit.

Crap.

Fuck.

She scrambled on her feet quickly.

“The treadmills are over there.” JB said to her, pointing a finger over his shoulder. He wasn’t even looking at the guy whose shoulders had creeped up to his ears and who was trying to make a quick escape.

Annabelle was annoyed that she had been caught.

“If you want me to leave you alone, just say it.” JB muttered, crossing his arms over his chest as she walked past him without a word.

“Leave me alone.” She said to herself, quietly enough so he wouldn’t hear, but he did. He followed her until she got out of the gym, and took her by surprise when he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her inside the first door he found.

She yelped as she was pulled in the dark, before he found a switch and turned the lights on. They were in a broom closet, and JB was fuming, way too close to her for her to think straight.

“What the hell is your problem?” He snarled, and rather than processing his words, she just drank the sight of him, angry and sweaty and muscular and he smelled obscenely good for someone who had been working out and this, all of this- him- he should be illegal. "We were fine before we stepped in here and now you don’t want me around you anymore?“

Annabelle didn’t want to express herself. She never expressed her anger or opinion when she thought it might hurt or anger her boyfriend. The "leave me alone” that he had heard was a massive mistake from her; he wasn’t supposed to hear that. She never got mad at her boyfriends or expressed any kind of opposition because even if she did want to be left alone, she was scared they would take the opportunity to actually leave her. She had an abandonment issue.

“Jaebum-” She was going to lie to him, because she had too, even if she was so angry she had to bite her tongue to prevent the truth from slapping out.

“No!” He snarled, sensing her lame excuse.

“What is wrong?”  He urged. "What did I do? What did I say?“

"You think I don’t know you’ll go back to Syria the minute you can?” And just like that, the words were out. JB wasn’t surprised at all. He knew she wasn’t completely over their discussion from earlier.

“Yeah, because you know me that well.” He muttered.

“Or maybe I don’t.” She snapped back. JB crossed his arms over his chest.

“You’re rushing, Annabelle.” He stated.

“Rushing?” She repeated incredulous

“I assume we’ve only been together for the two weeks, then.” She challenged “I started counting when you asked me out over Skype. Six months ago." 

JB rolled his eyes.

"Being physically together isn’t the same thing, and you know it.”  He said and he was righ,t it was much more difficult. Her brain was working more than usual and even faster ever since he came back, and now she had to think about her actions and how to behave around him because she spends more time in his company. Before she would only think about what she was going to well when they would video call each other, and now they spent more than just half an hour together. They went from that to  spending hours and hours and maybe it was too much and too soon for her. Maybe she really did not know him because everything was so different now, and it was better and worse and now she was just really confused and her brain was going to explode. It had taken her to the final stop of the train which was “this was not a good idea”.

“I…” She opened and closed her mouth because she was not going to do this

“No, tell me. I’m very interested.”  JB urged.

“Let me go home.” Despite the fact that it was at its final stop her brain train continued to try and move forward, reeling and short-circuiting.

“If you think you’re-”

“Move!”

Annabelle heard a groan of frustration reverberating in the air and then her back was slammed against the nearest wall, a hand wrapped around her jaw and lips crashing against hers. JB kissed her and their teeth collided before he pushed his tongue inside her gaping mouth. He tilted her head back and took her mouth repeatedly, and everything turned blurry and fuzzy inside her. JB’s brain had short-circuited as well, he wanted her for fuck’s sake. He wanted her more than anything and they were fighting.

“Jaebum.” She mumbled between his assaults, hands coming up to his shoulders. He licked on the inside of her mouth, the tip of his tongue tickling the inside of her lower lip, and her whole body sagged, a moan bubbling up in the back of her throat. He pressed himself closer against her, and he was possessive and takin and taking, and Annabelle couldn’t think; didn’t have time to. He kissed her like an animal and Annabelle felt… How did she feel?

“JB.” She moaned, the sound weak and breathy but it sounded like fucking music to his ears. He groaned, one knee parting her legs as he pinned her with his hips. And he was getting so hard so quickly. Annabelle couldn’t know how she felt but she sure knew it felt great. It was amazing, she couldn’t think, she was out of herself, she was being taken and worshipped at the same time.

“I’m so mad at you.” JB muttered, his hand letting her jaw go. He bent a little and hooked his hands on the back of her thighs, hoisting her small form up against the wall effortlessly. Annabelle wrapped her legs around his waist, her fingers curling around the back of his neck. He was mad at her; but he wasn’t leaving.

“So fucking mad at you.” He kissed her again, long and hard and angry, and that alone was enough to turn her on like she had never been before. When her libido was unleashed, there was no going back. 

JB lips moved from hers to her jaw, freeing her mouth and she gasped for air, sweaty chest heaving. He licked a long a torturous path down the side of her neck, and the tingles traveling to her core made the back of her head hit the wall, her mouth hanging open, her nails digging into the back of his neck. JB pulled back just in time. He moved and saw what had to be the most erotic sight he’d ever seen. Annabelle with head tossed back, cheeks and chest pink and flushed, her gorgeous lips parted, her tight, round and glistening breasts rising and falling as she panted. Too soon, she moved and looked down at him, her eyes clouded with desire. His cock twitched.

“I’ve been wanting you like this. For so fucking long.” He murmured, his legendary smirk stretching his lips. He fucked her up. He had this ravaging smile and he was sweaty and muscular and sexy and Annabelle just started to kiss him, really kiss him, taking his mouth just like he had taken hers earlier. JB hummed and kissed her back, and it all turned into an insanely sensual dance of tongues. They kissed like they had never before, letting go and caving in to the attraction they had felt ever since they saw each other in that restaurant. It took Annabelle some time to admit it, but if she hadn’t had a patient with an empty pen in his throat, she would have dragged him to the toilets of that place and fucked his sass out of him.

When Annabelle started racking her nails around his scalp while tugging on his hair, JB couldn’t refrain the small roll of his hips. It was subtle but Annabelle definitely felt it, his prominent hard on pressed against her core. Everything started to burn. and tighten inside her. Her blood started to sing and pump fast, she was listless. She moaned out loud, mouth dropping open against his, eyes closed in bliss. JB groaned, his lips claiming hers again, and he tried to press his body even closer, shove himself inside her as if he could.

“I need to make you come. I keep thinking about it. Every goddamned day.” He muttered against her mouth, hips jerking steadily against hers, and Annabelle grinded down on him, matching his movements with equal eagerness. And it did make him crazy to be around her every day and not be able to fuck the daily lights out of her every time she’d call him old. She had to be one of the sexiest woman he had ever seen. She was petite but voluptuous and she had nice, nice breasts. She had fucking freckles on her nose and neck, silky and shiny hair, and an ass to die for. She was a fucking bombshell. So fucking sexy and unaware of it.  
“Please.” Annabelle breathed, throwing her head back, heat radiating in her body, from her pussy to the tip of her toes. She kept riding him over his clothes, his anatomy getting more and more defined against her with each one of his movement. He was big and she could feel it. She had noticed how his workout shorts barely contained him, but god he felt even bigger against her. JB could feel her heat, want and need even through his pants. It felt so, so hot against him;

“I can feel you. God, you’re wet.” He growled, slamming his forehead against her shoulder and slapping his hand against the wall. Annabelle yelped, her nails scratching his scalp and neck, and it hurt so goo JB had to bite down on her shoulder to prevent himself from moaning too loudly.  "Oh, fuck. Oh, that’s it, princess.“

Annabelle kept going. It felt too good to stop. It started building up inside her and there was no way she was stopping. JB would already have lowered his pants to let his cock free and plow her until they both passed out but he was just too close, to desperate to feel her close that he kept humping her, and didn’t stop when his balls drew up tight.  
  
"JB.” She moaned as silently as she managed, gasping for air as her orgasm washed over her like a hurricane. She was coming. She was coming and it sounded so fucking erotic and sexy- goddammit. She tightened her grip around his hair, her eyes squeezed shut as he panted against the skin of her neck.  
  
"Oh, JB…I…” She mumbled, her back arching off the wall. JB closed his eyes and frowned while he came; spilling himself in his pants before he could realize what was happening. His orgasm shook him to his toes and he bit her again, dragging her release on and on.

  
“Oh, god.” She moaned, circling her hips against his. JB pulled away to take a look at her orgasmic bliss.  
  
“I’ve got you. Ride it out.” He murmured. God she was beautiful. He had come in his pants but it was so fucking worth it.

“That’s it, yes.” He complimented, his eyes clouded with adoration. “You’re so pretty when you come for me.”

Annabelle groaned, bringing her head down and taking his face in her hands. She kissed him hard and demanding, still riding the aftershock of her high, until the firework inside her faded away. Their kiss turned into a slow and sensual dance; then into sweet and tender licks of their tongues, and JB smiled against her lips.

“Well.” He breathed, and he had that goddamned smirk that made Annabelle swoon like a teenager. “That wasn’t the discussion I expected.” He said, remiding her there was something happening before her brain short-circuited like that. She frowned, hearing her train-brain ready to depart. She pulled a few inches away from him, blinking. When she shifted, JB’s smirk disappeared and he winced.

“Oh.” Annabelle said. “Sorry.”

“Ah.” JB groaned, letting her body slide back down to the floor. Annabelle leaned against the wall because her legs took a moment to wake up. “Let’s get cleaned up.” He grimaced. Annabelle nodded and nearly bolted out. Striding out of that broom closet like the plague was inside it and never looking back.

She would usually shower at the gym, but JB was certainly expecting that, so she didn’t. She went to the lockers room, dried her sweat with her towel, changed socks- because she always had to have clean socks before she ran, and headed out of the medical center in less than five minutes. Outside, she found no one.

  
When she tried to jog away, she felt a sharp tug at her backpack and almost fell on her behind. When she caught her balance and glanced back, JB had a firm grip on her. He wasn’t happy.  
“You’ll have to lose that habit of running off every time something upsets you, soldier.” He muttered.

Uh-oh.

“Let me go.” She bristled. JB’s eyebrows met his hair line.  
  
“Oh, you’re mad at me now?” He challenged. She was assessing.

“No.” She said. "I just want to go home.“  
  
"I’m not done with you.” He retorted and started dragging her towards the parking lot of the center while JB said something about brats and spanking.  
  
“Well, I am. So-” She was cut of by the sound of her own back hitting a cold mortar wall, and then JB’s lips were on her again, her face held between his hands. And Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Chernobyl all over again. He kissed her hard and demanding, tongue first, licking into her mouth in the possessive way that nearly made her come a few minutes ago. She moaned and sighed and sagged against him, hands clinging and palming and grabbing while took her mouth again and again with angry yet velvet licks of his tongue.

When he pulled away, his face was flushed and he was frowning. Annabelle opened her eyes and saw how wrecked he looked, breathing heavily against her face.

“I. Am. Not. Done. With. You.” He gritted out. Affirmative. "And you’re not done with me either.“  
  
Annabelle could not deny that. She still couldn’t pinpoint the feeling that invaded her every time he kissed her like that. She was a little bit mad at that.

"Come.” He ordered, taking her hand and pulling her into the parking lot.  
  
“Where are you taking me?"   
  
"To my apartment.”  
  
“Why?”

“Because obviously we need to talk."He said as they arrived to his car. The man had a pick-up. Just how  _old_ was he?

"I didn’t shower.”

“Guessed you wouldn’t. You’ll do it at my place.” He proposed, opening the passenger’s door for her. He just wasn’t done with her at all.

-

JB lived in a luxurious apartment in the city center. How could he afford it? His mother was a rich entrepreneur who made millions by making money off of rich assholes’ backs and giving it back to the poor. She died when he was eleven, and he inherited part of her wealth when she was eighteen. He said he only used it for his apartment and his studies. After first coming back from war the first time, he felt the need of living in a safe place, and thought it was right to put some money in it. The building was very highly secured. You either had to have a passcode or a badge to enter the parking lot, and a code to get to the top floor, where his apartment was.

Despite his money, JB was very down to earth. Really it was the only fancy thing he had. His pickup was at least seven years old, and he dressed just as any other civilian would do.

When he was eighteen, he cut all ties with the rest of his family. His father, sister and brother. He never developed the story. He did not talk to them, period. Annabelle hadn’t bugged him to tell he more about it, because they had agreed not go that deep in each other’s live. They were the same kind of person. They both had a past they completely let go, forgot and buried, and did not want to bring back to life at any cost. Their past was something that had become totally independent from the persons they were. But that was most true for JB, not Annabelle. Annabelle had her secrets too, and JB wasn’t supposed to want to know them. And frankly, it was a blessing for Annabelle that he didn’t want her to meet his family. She always found it too pressuring.

Annabelle had been in his apartment before, but only around the living room and the kitchen. Never stayed the night or went to his bedroom. But he led her straight there. His room was so tidy she felt out of place. Bed done like a square, and boy his closet. That man had to have OCD.

“The bathroom’s yours.” He said as he opened the door of what had to be a spa. It was also so clean she was sure he didn’t shower here.

“You can grab a T-shirt in my closet.” He winked down at her before exiting the room. The cleanness of the place was bothering her. She wanted to knock everything over. Nothing was out of place, but at the same time everything was. She opened the cupboard above the double sink and the squareness of the arrangements almost blinded her. She took a closer look and remarked that every bottle and container was disposed according to their sizes. 

Weirdo.

She dropped her bag and shoes in his bedroom and went back in the bathroom to undress. He had an Italian shower and it was nice. She showered and grabbed a towel from the drawer underneath the sink where they were all neatly folded. She wrapped it around herself and opened the cupboard again to find some lotion to moisturize her skin. She didn’t find any in there, so she wandered out. Some people put their lotion in their closet because that’s where they dress.

Her eyes swiped around the room but there were only clothes and a small frame on a shelf. It was a picture of a woman and a little girl on a beach. They were both Asian. The woman was holding the toddler in her arms, and he was pointing towards the camera with a big grin. 

“Looking for something?”

Annabelle almost jumped, turning around to find JB leaning against the doorframe, hands in his pockets. 

“Who is it?” She asked, pointing towards the frame.

“My mother. With my sister.” He replied simply. Annabelle wasn’t supposed to ask more. Didn’t feel the need to.

“Do you have body lotion?” She enquired, and JB tried not to look to relived by the change of subject. He frowned.

“I don’t know. Maybe.” He said, and shuffled out towards the bathroom, Annabelle following him.

“You don’t moisturize?” She was low-key scandalized.

“Uhm, no.”

In the bathroom, JB opened the cupboard above the vanity and ruffled through he perfectly aligned bottles.

“In the army, you end up sweating all the time.” He explained. That argument went through her like crap in a goose.

“You still need to moisturize.” She scolded. JB turned his head towards her and frowned.

“Are you naked under that?”

“No, I have a turtle neck.” She deadpanned.

“Brat.”

“Despot.“ 

JB had to laugh at that.

"Here.” He handed her a tiny bottle. She took it and sighed.

“That’s a hand cream." 

JB didn’t see her point.

"I’m sure you won’t die if you use it somewhere else.” He countered, and she was defeated.

“Right. Thank you.” She said. He smiled and kissed her cheeks before ambling out again. And it was at that moment she realized she didn’t know why he had come in here at first.

She did what she could with the hand cream. Really it didn’t make that much of a difference but still felt odd for her taste. She dressed in yoga pants and one of JB’s T-shirts, though she hesitated a bit to disturb the balance in the equality of their stacking. Three piles of five T-shirts each.

“You done moisturizing?” JB asked when she walked back inside the living room. The man was on his couch, legs crossed at his ankles, and feet propped up on his coffee table, a beer can on top of it. He had a book in his hands and wasn’t tearing his eyes off it.

“With a hand cream. I feel guilty.” She muttered, making a detour by the kitchen to get herself something to drink.

“Drama queen.” She heard him say. She smiled to herself and grabbed a soda can from the fridge before settling herself on the couch as well with a content sigh. She picked up the TV remote but JB snatched it from her hand, bending and putting it back down next to the four other different remotes, perfectly aligned.

“The fuck?” She blurted out, speaking before finding a more appropriate words. JB glared.

“Watch your mouth.” He ordered, pointing a threatening finger at her. JB didn’t understand why she had sworn. He thought there was a basic type of swearing, and basic occasions people could swear, but when people placed a swearword between each of their words it just reminded him of his dad.

Annabelle loved to offend him.

He closed his book and dropped it on the table. That’s at that moment she remembered they had something to talk about. She had forgotten for a little while and now she was getting anxious again. Jaebum pivoted so he was facing her, swinging an arm over the backrest of his sofa. She swallowed and fidgeted with her can.

“You don’t want me to go back to Syria.” He stated, and Annabelle opened her mouth automatically.

“I was just-”

“You were not, Annabelle. For fuck’s sake.” JB rolled her eyes and Annabelle kept her mouth open.

“Watch-”

“Don’t.” He cut her off with his damned threatening index. She sagged against the soda and opened her can. She looked like a rebellious teenager getting scolded. Annabelle didn’t know why she was a brat around him. JB smiled to himself while she wasn’t looking. She was even more maddening than the first time he saw her.

“It’s way too soon for you to make that kind of demand, and you know it.” He added, watching her swirl her finger around the hole at the top of the can. Annabelle knew he was right. It wasn’t her fault: it was her brain-train.

“Yes, but…” She sighed, refusing to look at him. "I know I can’t ask you to quit your job, and I know you leaving wouldn’t be the end of our relationship. I know it would be different from when my exes left me. I know it would only be because of your job and nothing else. I know you’re right, and I think like that too. I do. I don’t want you to leave the army because of me. That would be too much pressure.“ She said, and she spoke she really started to wonder why she couldn’t’ stick with that mindset. Why she couldn’t stop getting ahead of everything and assuming the worst.

"But I know myself.” She looked up at his eyes.

“And?” He prompted calmly. He was calm but her eyes still went back down.

“I don’t think I’ll ever forgive you.” She whispered. JB kept quiet. He was pretty sure that was an ultimatum. He was also sure she didn’t want to make that demand.

“And I’m sorry for putting so much pressure on you. I wouldn’t be surprised if you ran away.” She added quickly.

“Soldiers never run away.” JB retorted, and she thought he was too serious but didn’t make fun of him. She just snorted and took a sip of her soda. She was uncomfortable and trying so hard to keep her brain-train docked, she didn’t notice him just staring at her with eyes full of something that would have made her even more anxious: love.

“Come here.” He murmured, and Annabelle leaned close but still kept her eyes on her can.  He curled his arm around her neck and tilted her head back so he could look at her in the eyes as he spoke.

“If I ever leave the country, I’ll do everything it takes for you to take me back.” He declared. That wasn’t the answer Annabelle was expecting. Or maybe it was, if she had been reasonable, but it wasn’t the answer she wanted. A “I promise I won’t ever leave” would have been perfect. It would actually have made h&&er feel better.

“I see that you don’t trust me yet, but I’ll earn your trust. And you’ll know deep down that I’ll never abandon you.” He added quietly. Annabelle felt bad because he was sure of himself. She was a hopeless case, she had zero confidence in her relationship. She didn’t trust that easily. She could never be convinced her boyfriends would stay. Yet he was saying that like all of her exes. They all were so sure they could change her. She couldn’t be changed.

“Alright, princess?” He piped up, kissing her nose. Annabelle definitely wasn’t feeling better at all, if not worse than before.

“I hope you’re right.” She murmured.

“Stop worrying, my sweet.” He retorted. “You look cute in my T-shirt.”

Annabelle rolled her eyes. She had heard that line at least a trillion times.

“That’s a classic.” She said, and he smiled.

“But it’s true.” He replied before kissing her soft and sweet. When she slid her fingers in the hair at the back of his head, he almost shivered, his lips seeking hers in a more demanding manner, and it didn’t go unnoticed. Annabelle held his neck and racked her finger tips in the short hair at his nape, smiling when her soldier bit her lip as a sign of approval. He pushed her down onto the sofa, his lips pressed against hers as he maneuvered his larger body between her legs. He kissed her jaw and Annabelle arched her neck, sighing in content and holding him close. His tongue felt like a velvet brush while he slowly traced the outline of her jawline with it, before dropping open-mouthed kisses along the skin of her neck. Annabelle made a small dying nose when he kissed her again, possessive and controlling and everything stated to feel better and better. He licked the inside of her mouth in a way that made her toes curl around his calves. He pulled away and kissed her chin, her throat, her collarbones… that was it, they were finally going to do it. He tried not to show his impatience and raging boner but the words he spoke gave him away.

“Want to take this to my bed?” He breathed against her collarbone, and he felt her hands freeze his hair. He looked up and her eyes were open but still clouded. He kissed the side of her neck and put a hand on her waist but she was rigid.

“What’s wrong?” He frowned down at her.

“I’m sorry. I can’t I-“She stopped and slid her hands down his shoulders, sighing. Brain train was heating up. “I have anxiety.” She said.

“I’ve figured.” He smiled sympathetically. She looked away from his eyes and swallowed.

“I want to take it slow.” She murmured, and when she heard no answer she looked back him at him, his smile hadn’t changed.

“Okay.” He whispered. Annabelle was used to this. Them saying 'okay take your time’ but freaking out and running away whenever her anxiety got out of hand. She didn’t pick up on it as much as she should have, in that aspect, JB wasn’t different from anyone she’d ever had in her life.

“It’s cool.” He said before giving her lips a peck. There it was, the sudden change, the 'gotta be careful with her now’. Annabelle didn’t say she wanted no sexy time at all, just that she wanted to go slow. Prude pecks weren’t what she wanted from him, anxiety or not, he was fine as hell, and she wanted to make out with him. When she kissed him again, hard and sloppy, his cock jumped to attention.

“I thought you wanted to take it slow.” He muttered against her lips, pushing a hand into her hair. He kissed her back though, because he could not resist.

“I want to do it at my own speed.” She replied, bucking her hips in a suggestive manner. JB smirked against her mouth and bit her lip, his own hips reacting and curling against hers. He was down for anything she would want to do, but he didn’t want to scare her away by getting too excited.

“Tell me when things get uncomfortable.” He ordered while Annabelle caught her lip betqeen her teeth, her hips rollings and grinding.

“Yeah?” She breathed, her eyes challwnfing him. They were dark and erotic and sesuctive.

“Yeah.” Be murmured before kissing her. He ran his hands down her sides, his thumb tracing circles on he hipbones while he moved his hips in ainc with hers. Annabelle tangled her fingers in his hair while his hands slid under her T-shirt and caresses the akin of her stomach. JB hesitated to go further up. He wanted to feel her breasts, toucj them, squeeze them, lick and kiss them, but he wasn’t sure about what he could do or not.

“Jae..” She sighed, her voice high and vaporous. Her eyes flittered close while she rose him from the bottom.

"That’s it. God, that’s it princess, sing for me.” JB said appreciatively.

“Oh, god.” She arched and writhed against him, her moans making it so hard for him to not fall apart. She sounded so erotic, he had never had a parter like that. Her sighs and moans travelled directly to his cock, each sound making it jerk and twitch. He groaned when she ran her nails down his torso.

“Belle." 

She was loud but the way her moans poured in his ear made him feel like she was moaning only for him, that it was a secret she was sharing with him and meant for no one else. She sighed, her breath fanning against the side of his neck while her mouth hung open against his jaw. Her teeth closed around the sensitive skin while her nail scratched his chest. He shivered, hips jerking up and Annabelle yelped.

"Godammit.”  He muttered, pulling his body off of her. He still was towering over her on all fours but there was no way he was putting his body over hers again. Annabelle’s eyes opened in surprise, and she saw him panting, his face turned away from hers.

“What’s wrong?” She breathed. JB looked at her, his face flushed. The man had been struggling so hard, but this woman had no idea of what he had been going through. Even as a soldier, he thought sexy time with Annabelle Alstead required way more self-control than he had. 

“I’m not-” He stuttered, collecting his thoughts. How could he say 'you’re too hot for me not to fuck you sensless’ in a nice way?

“We shouldn’t.” Is what coming out. Annabelle frowned and shifted, ready to protest, but he cut her off with a loud groan while he sat back on his heels, clutching his back while making a grimace. Annabelle just couldn’t resist. Her brow ceased, eyes mischievous.

“Scared you might hurt your back, pops?” She teased. JB turned his head to glare at her.

“You really need to get your ass whooped.” He declared.

“Maybe I do.” She retorted with a grin. Her phone buzzed on the coffee table, and she took a glance at the Caller’s ID.

“Oh, no.” She gasped, remembering. "It’s Caleb. I forgot we were supposed to meet up after his hook up.“ She winced, slapping her hand on her forehead.

"What?”

“Never mind. I have to go.” She muttered, dropping her barely drunken soda can on the table and standing up.

“Can I come with you?” JB forced himself not to look as panicked as he was. He didn’t like not spending time with her.

“I guess.” She frowned. "You sure you want to?“

"Yeah, just..” JB groaned, painfully standing up as well, his erection still prominent. "Let me have a cold shower real quick.“

When Annabelle and her boyfriend arrived to the bar, Caleb was already there. Had been for about half an hour. He was sitting at a table fo four, perched on a stool and sipping on a bottle of beer. When he saw the couple walk in, he grinned and stood.

"Hi.” Annabelle beamed, wrapping an arm around his neck and hugging him.

“Sup, princess?” Caleb replied, returning her embrace. When she pulled back, she gave him an apologetic pout.

“I’m sorry I’m late.” She said.

“S'all good.” He replied, waving a dismissive hand. "Good to know he keeps you busy.“ He murmured low enough so JB wouldn’t hear him. She flushed and turned scarlet while he moved to greet her boyfriend. They shook hands.

"Nice to see you again, JB. How’s your back?” Caleb asked as they all took place around the table, perching themselves up on stools.

“It’s fine. Keeps getting better.” He replied casually.

“That’s cool.” Caleb grinned. "It should be fine by the time you have your post-op exam with me.“ He said. Since Caleb had been his referring doctor when he went to the hospital, he had to do all the follow-up process with him. ” I’ll give you an autograph and you’ll be ready to go back to Syria.“ He added, and Annabelle’s eye bulged out. There was a silence, and then JB breathed a fake laugh.

"Yeah.” He grumbled, while Annabelle just glared at Caleb who was deliberately ignoring her.

“By the way, how’s civil life going for you?” Caleb asked. Jaebum shrugged a shoulder.

“It’s great. I get bored sometimes but s'alright.” He murmured.

“Yeah, I imagine.” Caleb nodded. "D'you know how long you’ll be here for?“ He asked. Annabelle placed an elbow on the table and pinched her nose. The silence was much longer this time. JB, who had understood his endeavor since the beginning was giving him an impassive stare, eyes slightly narrowed.

Annabelle could have told Caleb off at that moment (she should have) put part of her wasn’t over the discussion they had had earlier). Part of her wanted to actually corner him just like Caleb was doing.

"No.” He replied finally.

“Well, you’ve got at least until I give you the green light. Should I postpone our appointment so you can stay a little longer?” Caleb retorted.

“Caleb.” Annabelle snapped.

“What?” He gave her a quizzical look.

“Is that some kind of shovel talk?” Jaebum asked, flashing something too sharp to be a smirk. Caleb held his bottle up.

“Not my style. At all.” He said before throwing his drink back and getting up.

“You guys want anything? It’s on me.” He said, pointing one index to each of them.

“No, thanks.” JB refused.

“Baby girl?” Caleb prompted, and Annabelle shot bullets with her eyes.

“A beer, please.” She gritted out.

“Got it.” He winked. And he was only acting clueless. He was very aware of what he had done and did not give the slightest fuck about the consequences. When Caleb turned on his heels and left towards the counter, Annabelle spoke.

“He was-”

“Just asking?” JB snapped, and he looked pissed more than anything.  _Touché_. Annabelle thought. She kept quiet, not knowing what to say in her friend’s defense.

“And  _'baby girl_ ’? ’ _Princess_ ’?Really?” JB spoke after a beat. What now? 

“He gave me those long before you did.” She argued. "He doesn’t mean it like you do.“

Jaebum actually snorted, but he wasn’t smiling.

"Okay, I’ll have my female friends call me  _baby boy_ when you meet them, see how that makes you feel.” He declared.

“You have female friends?” Annabelle couldn’t refrain herself from teasing him.

“Course I do.” He frowned. "Brat.“

"Look.” He said, sighing. "I’ll just go home, alright? Don’t want to deal with him.“ He decided? Annabelle wanted to hold him back, but she didn’t see the point of forcing him when she knew Caleb was going to shovel talk him until he punched him. She had to talk to Caleb before they could be in the same room again.

"Okay.” She agreed. "I’ll get him to apologize or something. Promise it won’t happen again.“

"Okay.” He said before hopping down his stool. They kissed, and the second his lips touched hers she didn’t want him to leave anymore. He tasted sweet and lovely and he was tender with each soft suction of his lips on hers, and during the ten second their kiss lasted she had no doubts about Syria.

“Get a room.” Caleb muttered as he returned with two beers. They parted and JB gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks.” Annabelle said, grabbing her drink.

“I’m leaving.” Jaebum declared.

“Already?” Caleb faked disappointment.

“Yeah.” He replied. "Unless your shovel talk wasn’t over?“

"It was, don’t worry.” Caleb grinned. If he wasn’t that handsome when he smiled like a little shit, he would get punched in the face on a daily basis.

“Good.” Jaebum muttered before Annabelle leaned over and kissed his cheek.

“I’ll call you.” She promised.

“Bye.” Caleb waved, and JB returned the gesture before ambling off and out of the bar.

“He didn’t quite like that, did he?” Caleb said, and was proud and happy with himself.

“Neither did I.” Annabelle sniped back. "What the fuck is wrong with you?“

"Annie, now we’re sure he’s going to stay for at least a month.” Caleb said. We?

“Yay, thanks, fuck you.” She muttered.

“I don’t want you to suffer.” He said more seriously.

“I know, neither do I.” She replied. "But stay the fuck out of this.“

"Sure.” He caved in a little too quickly. Annabelle sighed and took a long sip of her beer to calm herself down.

“So.” She prompted. "Gavin.“

Caleb grinned again.

"Sweet.” He gushed. "He’s a full on dom, and he has a huge-“

"TMI. Are you going to see him again?” Annabelle cut him off.

“No.” He replied. "Why would I?“

"So who’s your next victim?” She asked. Caleb jerked his head over his shoulder.

“The bartender.”

“Now  _that’s_  why you’ve been paying drinks to everybody.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter at 10 Kudos :)


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